10. Liam

The soundof the shower in the other guest bathroom was just loud enough I couldn't make out what she or Cas was saying, but their voices got louder with each step until I was standing just outside the door, trying not to be jealous he was in there with her when I wasn't.

"Lucy, can I come in?"

Silence, and then the sound of a shaky exhale. She seemed relieved but I couldn't smell anything other than the light scent of the soap she'd used.

The door opened and I scanned her from head to toe. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but she seemed better and that settled some of the anxious energy still coursing through my veins.

"How are you doing?" I leaned down and her eyes widened, but she didn't try to put any distance between us. "Are you getting a headache or feeling dizzy?"

"No. I'm okay."

Pulling away was impossible. I couldn't smell her, but I could still feel the warmth from her skin.

"Can I be honest for a second?" Rubbing my cheek against hers like a goddamn cat scent marking would have been mortifying if it had been anyone else, but with Lucy? This was exactly how I should be with her.

"I suppose."

Her inherent suspicion of everything was impossibly endearing.

"I'm kind of obsessed with the way you wore your scent blockers when you first came to meet with me," I admitted.

Forcing myself to pull away from her was harder than I'd ever admit, but it gave me the space I needed to see just how affected she was by me even without pheromones involved. Her hand was holding onto the door frame so hard her knuckles were white, and the other was clutching her towel like she was nervous I might try to rip it off of her.

Tempting, but I had no intention of doing so.

"Why?" Lucy demanded.

"Be more specific." I reached up and traced the edge of the black adhesive. It was so thick it nearly covered all the spider lilies on her neck. For some reason, that bothered me.

"Why are you like this? We barely even know each other."

It was a fair question all things considered, but the answer wasn't something I could blurt out carelessly.

Cas shoved past her and pushed me back so he could close the door behind him. "Get dressed, Lucy."

I stared into the eyes of the man who constantly brought me back from the brink of insanity just to shove me back over when he was feeling bored. "What would I do without you?"

"Die, probably." Cas smirked and my hands started shaking so badly I shoved them in the pocket of my hoodie.

That smirk was a rare sight and I'd never get enough of it.

If he was feeling relaxed enough to give me that smug smile, then I knew everything would be okay. Lucy would be okay. We'd get through this and once we made it to the other side, nothing could ever rip us apart again.

"She's already starting to figure out how to control her pheromones." Cas stepped closer, getting into my space like he might just challenge me.

Considering the fact that we were both very strong alphas with deadly auras, anyone would assume this was going to turn into a fight for dominance, but it had never been like that between us.

His hands framed my face and they were freezing cold against my skin – still hot from my shower. Those glowing blue eyes searched mine, and I could see the smallest bit of red – a trick of the light thanks to the reflection of my own eyes in his.

"She's going to get better at it than you." His annoying smirk should piss me off. He was trying to get a rise out of me after all, but all I could feel was relieved.

"I expect nothing less of her." I closed my eyes so I could fully enjoy the soothing sensation of his cold hands against my overly warm face. This was helping me let go of the lingering rage more than his stupid breathing techniques.

"You're a wreck," Cas muttered. "What happened?"

"Frankie's going to pick her up and take her to see Nathan." I almost purred when Cas's hands slid up into my hair, combing the wet mess back in the style he preferred. "Lucy needs to go without us. With the scent blockers, soap, and suppressants Frankie should be fine around her."

"What?"

My eyes shot open when his grip on me tightened enough it was actually painful.

Cas glared at me with that psychotic look back in his eyes and I could finally see just how close he was to losing it. He couldn't hide it from me this time. "Shoving it all down isn't working anymore, is it?"

He growled slightly and released me like he was afraid he might actually hurt me this time, but then Cas gripped my waist and pulled me in closer. This was unsettling him just as much as it was me.

Letting Lucy go off on her own went against every instinct we had as alphas.

"What if something happens?" The hand on my waist squeezed hard enough to hurt but I didn't let him see the pain. Not when he was just as dangerously close to losing it as I was.

One mistake and he might just tear Frankie apart when she got here without meaning to.

"We won't let her out of our sight," I promised. "But she needs space or we're going to lose her."

Cas grabbed me with both hands then like he wanted to shake some sense into me, but I knew him better than almost anyone. This was more than anger. He was afraid, and desperate not to show it.

I sighed and pulled my hands out of the hoodie pocket so I could pull him in closer, giving him the comfort he needed but couldn't bring himself to ask for.

Lucy chose that moment to open the bathroom door, wearing a pair of black sweats that were identical to the ones I had on, but Cas had ordered the women's version – just big enough they were baggy like all her favorite clothes were.

Her grey eyes held mine hostage, glimmering slightly in the light to show me just how clear they were.

Nearly white – like fog.

I gritted my teeth and tried to figure out how to tell her what she needed to know without sounding absolutely unhinged – like I've been stalking her for the last fifteen years without telling her I knew exactly where she was while she suffered.

If I'd known she was in the same city as me for years now, I would have bonded her a long time ago, but that wasn't something that was going to be easy to convince her of. She needed time to process and absorb without me hovering over her, pressuring her to respond.

Lucy opened her mouth like she was going to start an argument with me just for fun and I raised my eyebrow, waiting to see what she might say.

"Frankie's on her way?"

I stepped to the side, but I didn't let go of Cas. My arm went around his waist and Lucy looked down to study it. I could have watched her like this forever, especially when her cheeks turned such a pretty pink, but we couldn't risk triggering her heat symptoms again.

"Frankie will take you to see Nathan," I confirmed. "You don't need to inform us of anything if you don't want to, but he will send me a report regardless since you're still working for Valor. When he clears you for work, you can reach out to us, but it's not necessary unless you need something to help with the investigation."

She looked up into my face when I released Cas and the hurt in her eyes nearly gutted me, but I had to do this or she'd constantly wonder. "You think it's the pheromones, right?"

Lucy nodded. "Why else would you be like this?"

"I have my reasons." Jerking my chin toward the kitchen, I indicated she should go first, but she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me.

"What are they?" Lucy sounded irritated, but she was also just breathless enough to make me smile. My spicy sweet omega was intensely curious and that gave me just enough hope to hang myself with.

"Are you going to kill me if I tell you?" Half teasing, half genuine. She might really kill me after finding out that boy she'd liked was an infamous legacy alpha now.

Lucy narrowed her eyes like I was being difficult on purpose. "Can't say without knowing what it is."

Cas waved Lucy forward, the muscle in his jaw twitching as she walked past us with suspicion in her eyes.

We followed after her like lovesick fools, but what else were we supposed to do? Our omega needed us whether she wanted to or not, and we'd make sure she was taken care of. No matter what that meant.

"I'll give you a hint."

Lucy paused at the front door and looked back, noting the six feet of space I kept between her and us. The urge to go to her was almost too much, but I'd promised to keep my distance.

"The last time I was in your apartment, I took something. If you can figure out what it is, you'll know why I want you to be mine." My voice was soft – a tone I hadn't ever used until I'd met her.

"Ours," Cas corrected.

I leaned against him and nodded. "Ours."

Lucy stared at us with wide eyes. She was acting skittish, but the way she hesitated told me we weren't the only ones who didn't want to put any more distance between us than we had to. "You took something?"

"I did." It wasn't something someone else would ever look at twice either.

It would take her some time to figure it out unless she had an inkling of who I was and there were times…times I suspected she might.

Guess we'd find out soon enough.

Making this a game would give her the option of ignoring the answer. She wouldn't have to take responsibility for my feelings, and maybe – just maybe, she wouldn't want to kill me when she found out.

Lucy opened the front door and a red Chevy Impala pulled up. The driver's red hair was a shade darker, but her lipstick matched perfectly. Frankie eyed us, but she didn't get out of the car.

Another alpha who understood it always had to be Lucy's choice.

"There's just one thing you need to remember when you do find it," I warned. "I had no idea you were an omega until you ran into me in that elevator."

It was a risk telling her even that much, but too little and she might think I've known where she was all along.

She stared back at me and I could almost see the wheels churning in her head. "What about Cas?"

"I didn't know you were an omega either until I saw the paperwork from the visitor's pass." He glared at the red car through his wet bangs and I shoved him with my shoulder to keep him from getting any violent ideas. "But my reasons are different from Liam's."

"Honestly, even if you were a beta, I'd be like this." I forced myself to smile. "Now go see Nathan so we can stop worrying so much."

Whether Lucy was an omega, or a beta…it didn't matter. She could be a zeta for all I cared and I'd still be just as obsessed.

Watching the way her chest rose and fell as she tried to process shouldn't have pleased me as much as it did.

Lucy took a shaky step toward Frankie and then hesitated.

"Just remember, if you need us, all you have to do is call and we'll be there," Cas assured. "Now go."

Before it's too late and we keep you here forever.

Lucy almost stumbled down the steps, but she caught herself on the railing. The sneakers Cas had ordered for her during one of the brief stints she'd been asleep were the same pink as the axolotl plushie on her bed.

She glanced over her shoulder only once, hesitating before she took a deep breath and then climbed into the passenger seat.

We were really letting her go.

Every atom and molecule in my body strained towards her, but that's not what she needed right now. She needed space and the time to find the answer to the mystery I'd given her.

This was for the best.

"She'll come back," I promised. The confidence in my voice shocked even me, but Cas needed to hear it. We both did.

"I'm going to follow them."

"Do whatever you want as long as she doesn't see you." I went back inside the house and it felt so empty now that she wasn't in it.

Cas would follow her and I would watch over them both, just like I'd promised.

Now…it was time to see what Francisco Lopez had to say about his missing heir.

Frankie would never harm Lucy, but they both had connections to the Lopez pack and if I was going to keep my promise I needed to eliminate any chance someone might use to harm her.

Because what she'd seen in the basement was just the tip of the iceberg.